jujitsu
/ˌd͡ʒuːˈd͡ʒɪtsuː/
jujitsu noun: a Japanese martial art and method of self-defence, typically unarmed, emphasizing manipulating an opponent’s force against themselves rather than directly opposing it with force, and using a wide variety of holds, throws, and defensive techniques.
Noun
jujitsu (countable and uncountable, plural jujitsus)
- A Japanese martial art and method of self-defence, typically unarmed, emphasizing manipulating an opponent’s force against themselves rather than directly opposing it with force, and using a wide variety of holds, throws, and defensive techniques.
- Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a related art, derived from judo.
- Strategic maneuvering, especially with the aim of using the strength of one's opponent against them in an unexpected or counterintuitive way.
- The far-right glitterati were not impressed with Trump’s Epstein jiu-jitsu.2025 July 16, Ryan Bort and Asawin Suebsaeng, “Trump calls Epstein conspiracy a ‘hoax’ and turns on Maga ‘weaklings’”, in Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2025
Verb
jujitsu (third-person singular simple present jujitsus or jujitsu's, present participle jujitsuing or jujitsu-ing, simple past and past participle jujitsued or jujitsu-ed)
- To attack (someone) or overcome (a challenge) with strategic maneuvering.
- He could never have developed GE’s reputation in that sector if he were still fighting the image of stonewalling on Hudson River cleanup efforts. “They've completely jujitsu-ed that,” notes PR executive Richard Edelman. “They've set a new standard. It's not just corporate social responsibility...2008, “Go on the Offensive and Shape the Message”, in William J. Holstein, Manage the Media (Don't Let the Media Manage You), Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, →ISBN, page 60
- Mischievous bloggers and tweeters are jujitsu-ing the Allied publicity machine with gags about how it’s Ange who is going to come on to whack Marion. Allied might be upstaged by the gossip, and become best known for something other than itself.2016 November 7, Peter Bradshaw, “Allied: what happens when a film gets eclipsed by gossip”, in The Guardian
jujitsu meaning in Bengali, Malay, Indonesian and Vietnamese
jujitsu in Bengali
- method of self-defence established in Japan
- জুজুৎসু jujutśu
jujitsu in Malay
- method of self-defence established in Japan
- jujitsu
jujitsu in Indonesian
- method of self-defence established in Japan
- jujitsu
jujitsu in Vietnamese
- method of self-defence established in Japan
- nhu thuật
Forms of jujitsu
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | jujitsus |
| alternative form | jiu-jitsu |
| alternative form | jiujitsu |
| alternative form | ju-jitsu |
| alternative form | ju-jutsu |
| alternative form | jujutsu |
| alternative form | jūjutsu |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | jujitsus |
| third-person singular present | jujitsu's |
| present participle | jujitsuing |
| present participle | jujitsu-ing |
| past participle | jujitsued |
| past | jujitsued |
| past participle | jujitsu-ed |
| past | jujitsu-ed |
Origin of jujitsu
Borrowed from Japanese 柔術 (jūjutsu). Popular spelling jitsu (instead of less popular jiutsu or jutsu) could reference to allophonic [d͡ʑɨ] or [d͡ʑi] (in Shitamachi dialect). First mentioned in The Japan Mail (1875, page 133), before the widespread use of the Hepburn system.
Words formed from jujitsu
Questions about jujitsu
- What does jujitsu mean?
- Jujitsu means a Japanese martial art and method of self-defence, typically unarmed, emphasizing manipulating an opponent’s force against themselves rather than directly opposing it with force, and using a wide variety of holds, throws, and defensive techniques.
- What is jujitsu in Bengali?
- Jujitsu in Bengali is জুজুৎসু (jujutśu). See Jujitsu meaning in Bengali.
- What part of speech is jujitsu?
- Jujitsu can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce jujitsu?
- Jujitsu is pronounced /ˌd͡ʒuːˈd͡ʒɪtsuː/.
- What is the plural of jujitsu?
- The plural of jujitsu is jujitsus.
Words near jujitsu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: jujitsu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-jujitsu.ogg.
Cite this entry: “jujitsu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jujitsu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.